Second Time's a Charm | Teachers College Columbia University

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Second Time's a Charm

TC Trustee Cory Booker was elected Mayor of Newark, New Jersey in May, besting his strongest opponent by a voting margin of 3 to 1.
TC Trustee Cory Booker was elected Mayor of Newark, New Jersey in May, besting his strongest opponent by a voting margin of 3 to 1. The retiring incumbent mayor, Sharpe James, who had edged out Booker in a bitter contest in 2002, stayed out of the race this time, clearing the field for his younger opponent. Although some have already pegged Booker as a natural for a much higher office, the former Newark City Council member said he is focused on the task at hand. "A lot of the unfulfilled aspirations of our country right now lie within our inner cities,"
Booker told the New York Times after his victory. "We have failed to fulfill the potential of our country, without realizing the abundance manifest in our inner-city communities, and we're really poised to seize this unfinished business and really make it happen. So I think a great, great ambition for the next decade of my life, for the next eight or 12 years, is to be involved in these efforts." Booker, a former Rhodes Scholar, joined the TC Board of Trustees in 2003.

Published Tuesday, Sep. 26, 2006

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